Reed and channel sound maker with pointed channel



May 6, 1958 G. wlNTRlss 2,833,085

REED AND CHANNEL SOUND-MAKER WITH POINTED CHANNEL Filed Sept. 1, 1955 INVENTOR. W M

' ATTORNEYS United States Patent REED AND CHANNEL SOUND MAKER WITH POINTED CHANNEL George Wintriss, Carversville, Pa.

Application September 1, 1955, SerialNo. 532,024.

6 Claims. or. 415-417 This invention relates to pneumaticsound makers. or

the reed-and-channel type. In the construc'tionpfcertain kinds of toys, particularly dolls and toy animals,

it is a common practice to insert the sound maker through a skin of the toy which overlies an block, or the like.

It was formerly necessary to provide a hole in the skin through which the sound makercould be inserted into the air passage. In order to eliminate the operation in which the holes in the skin were made, soundmakers were provided with holders having thorns at their forward ends for piercing the skinso that the making of the hole and the insertion of the sound maker were combined into a single operation.

It is an object of-this invention to provide an improved construction for pneumatic sound makers which makes it' unnecessary to use a holder for piercing the skin. With this invention, the channel of thesound maker itselfi is constructed with a thorn at its forward end,.and: the channel is shaped so as to protect. the free. end'of' the reed from contact with the skinduring;thespiercing'operation;

Another object: of the .invention is: to providera. sound maker, of the "character indicated; Wltl'Ufill 'fiYfilfiffOB limiting the extent'to: which the sound maker is inserted into the air 'passage-of the toy. Features of. this construction relate to the preventingxof displacementcf'the end portion of :the channel either forwardly or rearwardly'withrespect to the'eyelet.

Other,-objects,yfeatures and advantages: of the invention will appear-or be pointed out'as thedeseription'proceeds;

, In the drawing; forming a part hereof;-in; which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views;

Figure 1' isa sectional viewthrough a' pneumatic-sound maker embodying this invention, andillustrating the manair passage in a neck ner in which the pneumatic sound maker is. inserted v throughPa skin and into-an' air passage of' atoy;

Figure 2 is'a sectional viewtaken on the line-2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a frontend view'of the sound maker shown in Figurel I Figure 4, is a top plan view of the sound maker shown in Figurel;

Figures 5 and-6 are sectional'viewstaken on the lines 5-5 and ;66, respectively, of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a sectional view, similar to- Figured, but showing a modifiedform ofthe invention; and

Figure 8 is a sectionalview, similar to Figure l, but showing another modified form of the invention.

The. .sound maker shown in Figure 1 includes a reed 10, which is generally a thin brassstrip, and. a channel 12. .At'the rearward end of'the reed 10,,there are tabs 14' extending from opposite .sides .of the, reed and bent downwardly'and under the edges of the channel 12, as shown in Figure 6. These tabs secure the fixed, end. of the, reed to thechannell The forward or free end of the reed is spaced a short distance from the channel 12. This spacing can be obtained by having-a slight-bend in the reed or by shaping the;,forward end of the channel so as to diverge slightly from the reed,gor. by the use of a combination ofthese .expedients.

The channel 12 has a forwardly extending portion 16".

which is beyondthe free end of the reed and this forwardly extending portionld is pointed so as to provide a thorn 18 forpiercing a skin 20 when inserting the sound maker into an air passage 22 in a block 24 ofatoy. The, skin,20' may be made of rubber, or synthetic rubber, brother material which can be torn easily after a small hole has-been pierced through it.

In order to prevent theskin 20 from coming in contactwith the free-end of'the'reed 10 and damaging the-.- reedby: bending. it. during the insertion of the sound-maker throughtheskin, the forwardly extending portion 16 of the, channel extends upwardly to a level abovethe mod 10; In the preferred construction, the

thorn lsrextendsfor the full width of the forwardly.

extending portion16. In. theconstruction illustrated, the skin is held out of contact with the free end of thereed by the width of the thorn 18 which spreads the skin for a substantial distance and holds the top of: the opening up during the passage of the free end,

of the reed-throughtheskin20:

The rearward end of the channel 12, beyond the. fixed end of the reed 10, includes atubular portion 26.

which is preferably. of one-piece construction with the rest of the channel. portion 26, above the level of the reed 10, is closed by a wall 28, extending upwardly from the reed and preferably formed by.v bending; upwardly a portion of the reed providedfor the purpose. The upper part of the tubular. end portion 26 has. a seam 30, and in the manufacture of the channel this scam is generally left open so that the metal of the channel can bebent to. provide. somespringpressure when the tubular end portion 26 is. inserted into a holder orpassage which forces the edge faces of the seam 30 closer together or into. actual. contact with one another. This provides increased friction for holding the sound maker in place. when used in certain types of holders In order to provide a flange for the sound maker of this invention,.withoutencasingthe sound maker in a holder, an eyelet 32 is placed over the tubular end portion26. In thepreferred. construction, the eyelet 32 has a lip 34 at its forward end, and this lip has an inside diameter somewhat less than the diameter of the tubular end portion 26. By putting the eyelet 32 over the channel 12 fromthe forward end of the channel, and moving the eyelet rearwardlyruntilthe lip 34 comes in contact with the front of the tubular end portion 26, the lip 34 serves as a stop. for preventing displacement of the sound maker in a forward direction with respect to the eye- I let In the construction shown in Figure 1, rearward displacement of the sound maker with respect to the eyelet 32 is prevented by indenting the eyelet at a location immediately adjacent to the rearward end of the sound maker. Any indentation which produces an obstruction across the rearward end-of the sound maker will serve the purpose; but in the construction illustrated in. Figure 1 the indentation is a tab 36 formed by displacing metal from the wall of the eyelet 32 with the free end of the tab extending upwardly across the rearward end of the sound maker. The, advantage of an indentation which has a substantial portion actually sheared from the wall of the eyelet is that the tab can be bent back into line, or substantially into line, with the wall to permit the sound maker to be removed and replaced. if it becomes defective. indentations which have no portion severed Eatented May 6, 1958' The passage through this tubular.

from the eyelet wall are much more diflicult to flatten out without damage to the toy.

There is a flange 38 at the rearward end of the eyelet 32. When the sound maker is fully inserted into the air passage 22, the outside wall of the 'eyelet 32 clamps part of the skin 20 firmly against the inside surface of the air passage 22, and the flange 38 bears against the skin 20 around and beyond the opening through which the sound maker extends intothe toy. a v

The channel 12 is at least as wide as the reed throughout most of the length of the reed and along the free end of the reed. This prevents the skin from bending the reed transversely during the inserting of the sound maker through the skin. This construction is illus trated in Figures 2 and 5. The channel has flanges 40 which make its width at least equal to that of the reed.

Figure 7 shows a modified construction in which a channel 12 has flanges 40' which extend beyond the sides of the reed 10 and then upwardly above the level of the reed. This construction can be used with a thorn which does not project above the level of the reed, and the chan nels 40' extend forwardly far enough to hold the skin of the toy out of contact with the reed 10 during insertion of the sound maker into the toy.

Figure 8 shows another modified form of the invention in which a screen 45 covers the open end of the eyelet 32. This screen has openings 46 for the passage of air, but the openings are small enough to prevent the entrance of anything which could damage the reed or impair its operation. It is intended to prevent the accidental entrance of any large particles of foreign matter, and to prevent children from putting sticks into the sound maker.

The screen 45 is attached to the 'eyelet 32 by bending the peripheral edge portion of the screen around the flange 38. A tab 36 or other indentation is shown in Figure 8, but it can be omitted if desired because the screen 45 provides an abutment for preventing the sound maker from being displaced rearwardly from the eyelet 32'.

The eyelet 32 has a lip 34 which extends downwardly and forwardly to a level close to the reed 10. This construction gives the eyelet 32' a pointed end (half cone) which facilitates the insertion of the assembly through the skin of the toy.

With the long eyelet 32' shown in Figure 8, some endwise movement of the tubular end portion 26 is possible but there is no objection to this limited longitudinal movement of the sound maker since its total movement is restricted by the lip 34' at one end and the tab 36 or screen 45 at the other.

The preferred embodiment and some modifications of the invention have been illustrated and described, but other changes and modifications can be made Without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A pneumatic sound maker comprising a reed and a channel to which one end of the reed is fixed, the channel having an end part which is tubular beyond the fixed end of the reed, an eyelet over the tubular end part of the channel and secured thereto, a forwardly extending end portion of the channel beyond the other end of the reed pointed to provide a thorn for piercing the skin of a toy, the pointed end of the channel extending above the level of the reed to protect the free end of the reed from contact with the skin during the insertion of the sound maker into the toy, the eyelet having an in-turned lip at its forward end adjacent to the forward end of the tubular part of the channel for preventing displacement of the sound maker in a forward direction in the eyelet, the rearward end of the eyelet extending beyond the tubular part of the channel, and an indentation in the eyelet adjacent to the rearward end of the tubular part of the channel for preventing rearward displacement of the sound maker in the eyelet.

2. A combined toy and pneumatic sound maker assembly, said toy including a block having an air passage= therein, a skin over the outside of the block, said skin originally extending across the entrance to said passage,- the pneumatic sound maker assembly comprising a reed and a channel to which one end of the reed is fixed, the assembly having means rearward of the fixed end of the reed securing the sound maker'assembly in the passage, the seeming means including a tubular end portion of: a cross section less than that of said passage by an amount less than the uncompressed thickness of the skin, the tubular end portion being securely held in the passage by skin extending into the passage from around the originally-covered end of the passage and clamped between said tubular end portion and the wall of said passage, and piercing means forward of the free end of the reed for pushing a skin part way into the passage and for piercing and separating the skin toward the wall of said passage, said piercing means including a pointed structure at the forward end of the assembly and near the free end of the reed and having diverging side edges to spread the pierced skin toward the Wall of the passage. the point and the structure rearward of'the point being oriented with respect to the free end of the reed to hold the pierced skin out of contact with the free end of the reed While the assembly is piercing the skin and'during passage of the free end of the reed through the pierced opening. i

3. A combined toy and pneumatic sound maker assembly, said toy including a block having an air passage therein, a skin over the outside of the block, said skin originally extending across the entrance to said passage, the pneumatic sound maker assembly comprising a reed and a channel to which one end of the reed is fixed, the assembly havingmeans rearward of the fixed end of the reed securing the sound maker assembly in the passage, the securing means including a tubular end portion extending through the skin and into said passage, the tubular end portion having radially compressed skin of the toy surrounding and pressing against said tubular end portion around the circumference thereof and at the region of the entrance end of said passage, a flange at the outer end of the said tubular end portion, and piercing means forward of the free end of the reed for penetrating a skin when pushing the assembly into a passage in a toy, said piercing means including a pointed structure at the forward end of the assembly and near the free end of the reed and having diverging side edges to spread the pierced skin outwardly, the point and the structure rearward of the point being oriented with respect to the free end of the reed to hold the pierced skin out of contact with the free end of the reed while the assembly is piercing the skin and during passage of the free end of the reed through the pierced opening.

4. A pneumatic sound maker assembly for insertion into an air passage having a wall by which the sound maker assembly is to be held in a toy which originally has a skin extending across the entrance to said cylindrical passage, the pneumatic sound maker comprising a reed and a channel to which one end of the reed is fixed, the assembly having a tubular end portion beyond the fixed end of the reed, and of a cross section to fit said passage in which the sound maker is intended to be used and to be held in the toy by clamping a portion of said skin against the inside surface of said passage, and means for pushing the skin part way into the passage and piercing and separating the skin toward said inside surface of the passage, said means including a pointed structure at the end of the channel near the free end of the reed but projecting ahead of the free end of the reed, the pointed structure diverging to spread the pierced skin toward the inside surface of the passage, and the sound maker having a portion spaced from the reed and in position to hold the pierced skin out of contact with the reed while piercing the skin and while the sound maker is advanced through the skin to bring the tubular portion into contact with the skin and into the passage to hold the assembly secured to the toy, said portion spaced from the reed including edge portions of the channel formed into flanges extending outwardly beyond the sides of the reed and upwardly above the level of the reed.

5. A pneumatic sound maker assembly for insertion into an air passage having a wall by which the sound maker assembly is to be held in a toy which originally has a skin extending across the entrance to said cylindrical passage, the pneumatic sound maker comprising a reed and a channel to which one end of the reed is fixed, the assembly having a tubular end portion beyond the fixed end of the reed, and of a cross section to fit said passage in which the sound maker is intended to be used and to be held in the toy by clamping a portion of said skin against the inside surface of said passage, and means for pushing the skin part way into the passage and piercing and separatingthe skin toward said inside surface of the passage, said means including a pointed structure at the end of the channel near the free end of the reed but projecting ahead of the free end of the reed, the pointed structure diverging to spread the pierced skin toward the inside surface of the passage, and the sound 2::

maker having a portion spaced from the reed and in position to hold the pierced skin out of contact with the reed While piercing the skin and while the sound maker is advanced through the skin to bring the tubular portion one-piece construction with the channel and extending above the level of the reed to protect the free end of the reed from contact with the skin during the insertion of the sound maker into the toy.

6. The pneumatic sound maker assembly described in claim 5 and in which the forward end of the eyelet extends beyond the forward end of the tubular part of the channel,

and this forwardly extending end of the eyeiet projects downwardly on a slope ahead of the tubular part of the channel which is above the level of the reed to provide a sloping surface for preventing the tubular part of the channel from catching on the skin as the assembly is advanced into the toy.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,202,896 Buchner et al. June 4, 1940 2,590,743 Wintriss Mar. 25, 1952 2,598,956 Wintriss June 3, 1952 

